My "Beautiful" Brunch at Ipanema

Judging by the number of people whose Facebook status said "has cabin fever" this morning, combined with the sunny day, I'm willing to bet that Ipanema wasn't the only restaurant doing a brisk brunch business today. Personally, I never got close to cabin fever status but then I've been out a lot this snowy weekend.

It was my first time doing brunch at Ipanema, although it certainly will not be my last. I got the Frittata made with Gouda, caramelized onions, thyme and tomato with a side of sweet potato hash. So, yes, Andrew, it's the Grilled Gouda sandwich with eggs instead of bread and it sure was delicious, especially with a big mimosa to wash it down. For dessert, I had the almond cake with both light and dark chocolate frosting (I have no qualms about ending brunch with dessert).

Brunch was made even better by finding today's New York Times available on the bar. My Washington Post didn't get delivered today, but I checked Kroger and a 7-11 and neither of them received their Posts either, so it wasn't just me. It's still a loss for me since it's part of my Sunday ritual, as much as I have rituals these days.

But the highlight of brunch was the bartender who continuously referred to me, not by name, but by Beautiful, as in, "Need anything, Beautiful?" and "How're you doing over there, Beautiful?" Liz, if you keep that up, I'll end up dreaming about you again.

Music Lovers' Discography

I had known Andrew superficially for quite some time before that fateful drive to Ashland where I finally tried to find some common ground; of course my first attempt was music. I don't know who was more surprised, me or him, to discover we were both huge Pete Yorn fans (though I'd seen him live more frequently). I started spouting off some of my favorite artists and he became more and more dumbfounded, but the one that pushed him over the edge was Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah. From that moment on, Andrew and I were friends in music.

Since that day several years ago, we have talked music literally every single time we see each other, which is frequently, and been to many, many shows together. No one but Andrew could have shared my excitement at seeing Plushgun at Alley Katz or Ted Leo at Gallery 5 and that's not even going into the countless shows we've seen together at the Camel, the National, the Canal Club, Capital Alehouse and Commercial Taphouse. It's great to have a music loving friend to share with.

Part of our sharing policy is the CD exchange, which we did today over lunch at one of our favorite places to meet, Bistro 27 (although I insisted he order something other than what he got last time , cause this guy can get into a food rut. Grilled Gouda; just saying.). Andrew is a music blogger (concretecircles.blogspot.com) so he gets a lot of sampler CDs which are a great way for us to discover up and coming artists. Today I traded four of my current favorites for five of his; we'll meet up next week to rate what we heard or question the musical sense of the other. After that, we've got another show to go to at the National (just watch us judge the crowd).

And to think we once thought we had nothing in common.